And Now For Something Completely Different

Well, not actually different, as you’ll see, but at least a small departure from the grim tidings of recent posts. As everyone has heard, David Letterman announced his retirement yesterday. While Jay Leno had his share of anti-Obama jokes, it turns out that Letterman has had a few good ones, too. (Warning: One of these is insensitive to gays, because Letterman is a well-known bigot and hate-speech monger):

• “What was the most positive result of the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program? It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road.”

• “They’re saying Paul Ryan could be a big boost for the Republican ticket. Hey, Joe Biden is a big boost for the Republican ticket.”

• “What’s the difference between Obama and his dog, Bo? Bo has papers.”

• “President Obama has finally announced his support of gay marriage. He also announced a new Cabinet position, Decorator of the Interior.”

• “I don’t know all the details of his new position, but I believe under ObamaMarriage, if you like the marriage you already have, you will be allowed to keep it. Conservatives warn that under ObamaMarriage, some people will dump expensive spouses into marriage exchanges.”

• “The New York Times says the presidential debates are supposed to appeal to Americans in the working class. America still has a working class? I don’t think so.”

• “After years of criticism for his poor record on boosting employment, President Obama was finally pleased to announce today the creation of a job. Congratulations to Amelio Markham from Smithsburg, Maryland, on his new job. He will be making charts illustrating the downward spiral in President Obama’s approval ratings.”

Finally, like most people I enjoyed the film Gravity, though I’ve heard a lot of people didn’t like it much. At any rate, I didn’t get caught up in the metaphysical speculations about the film; I just enjoyed it for the remarkable piece of filmmaking it was. (Took something like two years to produce.) But someone has suggested an alternate plot line like this (only 1 minute long):